Report: House Energy and Commerce Committee Considering Twitter Subpoena

Jack Dorsey
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The House Energy and Commerce Committee is reportedly considering a subpoena to get Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey to testify about the embattled social media platform’s policies.

According to Politico, the possibility of a subpoena was raised “during a tense meeting with representatives of the company Thursday.”

An anonymous source claimed to Politico that Twitter is “delaying” and “stonewalling” in an effort to avoid Dorsey testifying about his company’s “data and content policies.”

Rep. Greg Walden (R-OR), the Chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, took to Dorsey’s own platform to ask Dorsey to appear before Congress. He tweeted to Dorsey, “I appreciate your willingness to speak publicly on issues facing Twitter and agree complex algorithms must be better communicated to consumers. After many good faith efforts from staff, this is your formal invitation to appear before @HouseCommerce on Sept. 5.”

In April, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg appeared before the House Energy and Commerce Committee, where he was asked questions about Facebook’s user data protection and policies.

Despite this, it was revealed that 46 out of the 55 members on the Committee had received donations from Facebook, and many of the questions during the hearing were considered to be softballs.

In July, the House Energy and Commerce Committee also sent letters to Google and Apple expressing concern over user privacy at both companies.

Charlie Nash is a reporter for Breitbart Tech. You can follow him on Twitter @MrNashington, or like his page at Facebook.

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